Richard j



(No Model B. J. ASH'WORTH.

MATCH BOX.

No. 589,921. Patented Sept. 14, 18971 IINTTED STATES PATENT Triton,

RICHARD J. ASIIW'ORTH, OF IVATERBURY, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE VVATERBURY MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

MATCH-BOX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 589,921, dated September 14, 1897. Application filed December 7, 1896, Serial No. 614,671. -(1 To model) and I do hereby declare the following, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings and the letters of reference marked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, and which said drawings constitute part of this specification, and rep resent, in-

Figure 1, a perspective view of a pocket match-box constructed in accordance with my invention; Fig. 2, a sectional view of the same; Fig. 3, a perspective view of the spring detached.

This invention relates to an improvement in pocket match-boxes, and particularly to that class which are of oval form in crosssection and which have a U-shaped spring inserted inside the case, one leg extending up the rear wall and into engagement with the cover above the pintle of the hinge by which the cover is secured to the body, the other end projecting upward above the upper edge of the body, where it is provided with a hook for engagement with the cover for looking the cover, and with a projection extending through an opening in the forward edge of the case, by which the upper end of the spring is forced inward to release the cover. Heretofore the projection on the spring has been formed by attaching a cap, rivet, or shell to the outer face of the spring, necessitating the independent formation of the cap, rivet, or shell and a second operation to apply it to the spring.

The object of this invention is to reduce the cost of manufacturing match-boxes of the class described; and it consists in forming the projection as an integral part of the spring, and as will be more fully hereinafter described, and particularly recited in the claim.

A represents the body of the box, which is preferably ovalin cross-section, to which the cover 13 is secured by a hinge O in the usual manner, the said cover overlapping the upper edge a of the body, which is slightly set in in order that the cover'may stand flush with the outer surface of the body. In the forward edge of the cap is a notch I), preferably formed by striking the metal outward from the inside. In the front edge of the body, near the upper end, is'a rectangular opening 0. The spring is formed from a strip of metal bent into substantially U shape, its rear leg E extending upward to take a hearing inside the rear wall of the cover above the pintle of the hinge C and tending to throw the cover rearward. tends upward against the front edge of the body and is formed near its upper end, which projects above the edge of the body, with a lip or projection f, adapted to engage the The other leg D exnotch b when the cover is in the closed position. Below the lip fand in line with the opening 0 is an integral'stud g, which projects outward through the said openingc. This stud is formed by cutting a U-shaped slit in the leg F and striking the metal inside the cut outward and turning its lower end inward, forming a substantially rectangular stud. The box is opened in the usual manner by pressing the stud g inward, which forces the lip f out of engagement with the notch 19 of the cover, which, under the action of the leg E of the spring, flies open. It will thus be seen that the spring with its lip and stud are formed from a single piece of metal, and the said lip and stud may be formed at one and the same operation, being produced by two punches arranged in the same press. The costof manufacture is therefore reduced.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is i In a match-box the combination with a body portion drawn from a single piece of sheet metal and having an opening formed in its forward edge, at a point near its open end, of a cover or cap also formed from a single piece of sheet metal, hinged to the said body portion and formed inits outer edge I above the hinge, and the forward leg of the spring being also adapted to extend above the open end of the body portion of the box and into the cap or cover, and provided with a downwardly-projecting, outwardly-inelined retaining-finger adapted to enter the said outwardly-projecting 'noteh formed in the outer edge of the cap or cover, and formed by longitudinally and transversely cutting the upper end of the said leg of the spring, and

lifting the metal s partially detached out- Warchand the said forward leg of the spring being also formed with an outWardly-projeetin g operating-stud or bowed finger, adapted to project outward through the opening in the forward edge of the box, and formed by eutting the metal of the spring longitudinally and transversely, and lifting the metal so par- 

